episode_0074

“Did you sleep well, Hyung-nim?”

While eating a simple hotel breakfast.

Victor, the brother-in-law, approached him, greeting him with his uniquely distinctive accent.

The guy, whose attire was the only thing different from when he was seen the day before, still dressed like a Black rapper, strode confidently closer.

Though it was clearly his own hotel, he always seemed to have bodyguards with him, as two burly men, big enough to hide guns behind their trousers, swarmed in with him.

‘It’s his own hotel, yet he lives so meticulously, even from early morning.’

Yesterday was the same; despite his frivolous appearance, he was obsessively meticulous about safety.

It was probably one of two things.

Either he was surprisingly meticulous despite his looks, or it meant he was constantly under threat of his life.

While pouring money into the police and political sectors was partly due to easy business, it now seemed his own safety was a much bigger concern.

Constantly bribing the police certainly didn’t seem to be a mere act of goodwill.

“Hyung-nim, I heard.”

“Hmm?”

“You didn’t enjoy yourself that long at the gambling hall?

And I heard you only ordered a costume for women to wear in your room.”

…As expected, he was watching this side.

He blurted out his true intentions so abruptly, it seemed he had no intention of hiding anything.

“Cough, cough!”

At this point, Woo Miae, who had been quietly drinking coffee next to him, hastily put down her teacup and turned her head away.

She subtly covered the dark circles under her eyes, which had appeared from staying up all night together.

Deciding it wouldn’t do, she pulled out foundation and powdered her undereyes, concealing the black crescent shapes.

“Ahem…”

This guy, surely the owner of the hotel, must have known what had happened.

However, he didn’t bother to pry.

Perhaps business was more important than the private life of this brother-in-law who was fooling around with his secretary, so he delved straight into the main topic.

“Hyung-nim, were you short on chips to play with? Today, I’ll add three times more, so how about you really enjoy yourself?”

“…You’d give me that much money again?”

“What would be the problem?”

Spreading his arms as if to boast,

“Aren’t we already ‘family’?

I feel my heart will only be at ease if you, Hyung-nim, spend your time happily in the lounge.”

He cast another big bait.

Perhaps the desired outcome didn’t appear yesterday, so he generously threw more bait, but,

“Hmm… the hotel casino is a bit boring, you see.”

“Huh?

……What do you mean by that?”

“It wasn’t exciting, and it felt stuffy. I’d prefer an open place over somewhere like this.”

This was an expensive hotel casino that, at a glance, only targeted people with fat wallets.

Surprisingly, there were few people in the casino he had looked around yesterday.

It felt utterly empty, as if it were a place only known to a select few, where tycoons dropped by when they were bored.

“Could I play at a proper place among the casinos you operate?

Not a place like this where only VIPs gather, but a more open place, overflowing with people and brimming with vitality.”

“Hmm… So you want to play seriously in a larger hall, is that it?”

As mentioned before, there was only one thing this guy wanted to get from him.

To stick in a straw and suck him dry.

He must have intended to give him gambling money, then slowly coax him, pulling him deeper and deeper into the swamp.

*Scrape!*

Having lost his appetite for breakfast, he finally stood up.

He met the guy’s gaze, delivering a response to the overt malice that had been evident even before they met.

“More than anything, I want to play properly with you, Maeje.”

“Hmm? With me, you mean?”

“Because looking at yesterday, the stakes involved were utterly trivial, you see.”

He took two more steps closer to Victor, striding deliberately.

The bodyguards became wary, perhaps fearing something might happen, but Victor raised his arm and motioned them back.

A cold charisma befitting a gang’s big shot, in his own way.

Receiving that consideration, he met Victor’s eyes at close range and finished his proposal.

“I want to play with the richest person here. I think it’ll be much more fun than yesterday.”

This bastard’s goal is purely my money.

It must have been his plan to slowly coax him, increase the stakes, and eventually exploit him down to the bottom, like a common pattern of entrapping a gullible person.

“Isn’t one big shot more interesting than going after petty small change?”

If so, he would gladly fall into that trap.

Meaning, instead of such childish games of petty exploitation, he would seriously fall into the pit and play along.

*Grin.*

Immediately, his gold tooth gleamed.

He grinned so wide it looked like his mouth would rip, his golden molars shining.

“That’s an interesting proposal, indeed.”

Sure enough, he eagerly bit at his counter-proposal.

Of course, this might even have been the proposal he himself desired more.

The idea was for them to bet their wallets against each other and play until one of them was ruined.

‘Hah… now my heart’s finally pounding.’

The vibrancy returning now that his entire fortune was on the line.

Each of them probably had something they believed in.

They would each believe the weapon they held was the best, filled only with thoughts of piercing their opponent.

Nevertheless, he was confident.

That he held the cards that would surely win.

“Then, let’s decide the minor details like the game rules and stakes later. Is that okay?”

“Of course, Hyung-nim.”

“I’ll just finish breakfast and leave now, so please give my regards to my sister.

She probably wanted to hear this news the most.”

“Ah~ I understand what you mean, perfectly.”

They both laughed with overflowing confidence.

Since the words were thrown, they couldn’t be picked back up.

Because, quite literally, the dice had been cast.

*

“Phew! I thought I was going to die of suffocation staying only inside the hotel.”

In the end, they exited the hotel just like that.

They politely declined the offer of a ride to the airport, avoiding the suffocatingly bulky bodyguards, and boarded a spacious taxi.

The taxi driver wouldn’t understand their mother tongue, so he quietly exchanged impressions with Woo Miae.

“That person, Victor… he seemed very cautious.

Moreover, considering the scale of his operations, he must have deep connections with the police and political sectors, so it would be difficult to do anything physical.”

“I never intended to inflict direct harm or anything like that in the first place.”

He subtly stroked his chin, then,

“But… if he’s that wary, I don’t know how far he’s gone to take action.

I can’t just stand by either.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

“I’ll tell you when we arrive at the airport.”

He turned his head to the window, then something came to mind, and he turned back to Woo Miae.

“Ah! More importantly, were you okay last night?”

As he abruptly brought up what happened last night, Woo Miae’s face, who had to deal with him all night, flushed red.

Though the taxi driver wouldn’t possibly understand, she questioned him with a deeply suspicious look, wondering why he would bring up such a topic here.

“Why are you suddenly turning to such a topic…?”

“No, well…”

As expected, Miae seemed unaware.

He scratched his head and, after an awkward pause,

“We were recorded 99% of the time having sex last night, probably.”

“!!? Wh-whaaat!? What did you say!!!”

It must have been a shocking remark, as her voice rose two octaves, unable to hold back.

The taxi driver, who had been calmly holding the steering wheel, was so surprised he almost looked back.

“Calm down.

Well… From the start, they tried to control us from the airport. So, they must have hidden cameras and listening devices all over the room they gave us.”

“Th-that’s…!”

She was surprised, as if she had no idea it would come to that, then,

“Wait, did you know beforehand, Doreonnim?”

“I only suspected it just in case, but that guy recited it all smoothly this morning as if he knew everything. Especially the bunny girl costume; I just quietly took it from the staff’s costume room, so how else would he have known?”

“Ugh…!”

“It means they only intended to cross the line from the very beginning.

There was a clock on the table tilted at a very suspicious angle, you didn’t notice, did you?”

Woo Miae simply boiled over like a heated coffee pot.

Yesterday, her focus was on the serious conversation, and when she faced that guy, perhaps the embarrassment of the costume play was so dominant that she trembled, her delicate shoulders shaking with indignation.

Just imagining her “dark history” of frolicking in a bunny girl outfit being produced into a video made her shudder, and she roared.

“We have to delete it! Turn the car around right now and interrogate him!”

“Now, now, calm down.

We can just delete all those videos of us fooling around after we beat him.”

“B-but still!”

“Oh, we’ve arrived.”

Just as they arrived near the airport, he subtly pretended not to hear her and got out of the taxi.

As soon as they got out at the intended location, his people greeted him.

“Boss-nim, you’ve worked hard. From now on, we will serve you.”

Four bodyguards, impeccably dressed.

A group that would escort him for one week, starting today.

They were bodyguards who had been on standby in Korea and arrived that morning.

When she saw the bodyguards in white suits, Woo Miae blinked her eyes as if she had become a fool all by herself.

“Doreonnim, this is…

You said you’d be returning right away, didn’t you? There’s even a plane ticket about to depart.”

“I’m not getting on it.

Now that we’re out of their surveillance, the real business trip begins. You’re good at English, right?”

Catching on to something,

“Do you… need an interpreter?”

“Exactly.”

Woo Miae, who had only expected to meet the casino operator, now seemed to slowly grasp how the situation was turning.

He added an explanation towards her expression, which seemed to suggest she had been tricked.

“There are some people I need to meet before leaving this country.

Since that side has an overly advantageous home ground, we need to create a backdoor on our side just in case.”

“Doreonnim… are you thinking of meeting high-ranking officials in this country?”

To that, he lightly shrugged his shoulders,

“I’ve already shortlisted some candidates and contacted a few.

Politicians here, even while taking money from gangs, are full of people who dislike gangs due to strong friction. I’ll use the remaining time to try and win them over.”

“Is that so…”

She replied as if she understood the plan, but she seemed somewhat disappointed.

Because her cheeks even puffed up like balloons, he asked if there was any problem, and she replied,

“You intentionally didn’t tell me, even though you knew, just in case I might give information to the enemy.”

“Well… you could say that.”

“Understood.”

She bowed her head gracefully as if accepting, but her tone was still sullen.

“It was an excellent strategy.

To think that you noticed the surveillance on your own, yet kept silent to me so as not to seem unnatural.”

Pretending to praise him, she glared at him sharply,

“Since you deceived me, whatever scheme you’re cooking up, you absolutely must retrieve that video.

Otherwise, I’ll have to reconsider my opinion of you, Doreonnim.”

“……”

Her words were like thorns, with a hidden meaning.

Her teeth gnashing, as if humiliated that her illegal pornography had been filmed.

‘My own naked body was filmed too, but… I wonder if she has no interest in a man’s body.’

It seemed he couldn’t afford to lose.

Because if he lost the game, he felt he would even lose his trusted subordinate.

‘The bunny girl outfit was cute, though.’

At the same time, if he lost, would the pornography spread on PornHub? He imagined it once.

+ + +

“Ah… the business trip has been extended.

Yes, yes. Understood. Still, the house is always kept in optimal condition─ Well, I said I wouldn’t overdo it. Really…♥”

Her voice automatically took on a nasal tone whenever she talked to this person.

She knew it was a foolish thing to do at her age, but it came out instinctively.

“Yes, yes. Then… you too, Doreonnim, don’t overdo it.”

*Click.*

Ending the call with a final, customary greeting.

“……”

When the call ended, the world became as silent as a dead mouse.

Lately, emptiness washed over her whenever she hung up the phone.

Standing alone in the wide, empty living room, the quiet where no sound could be heard, loneliness washed over her.

It had already been four months since she started working as Cha Doyeon Doreonnim’s housemaid.

Honestly, at first, she liked this house, which she had all to herself thanks to Doreonnim’s consideration.

She could see Seoul’s night view at a glance from the high-rise, monopolize the luxurious kitchen, and even felt like she was playing the role of a madam, wearing expensive clothes.

It was so good that she didn’t want to go back home.

Because she could feel what it was like to be high society, like in a drama.

“Phew…”

But that was just a fleeting fancy.

This happiness was no fun if there was no one to share it with.

It felt bitter because the owner of this house, the only one who knew this secret, often left the house empty.

It was true that at first, she felt uncomfortable with the ambiguous relationship of being her son’s friend.

He had made many unreasonable demands upon their first meeting and was rude. As the rumors said, he looked down on others as if a noble were dealing with commoners.

However, now, she had grown accustomed to his headstrong approach.

The title “Doreonnim” for the master she served became more familiar on her tongue than “Boss-nim”, and her daily habits adjusted to Doreonnim’s style.

As they grew closer, he cared for her much more gently, only spoke kind words when they were together, and most of all,

*Gulp…♥*

‘I want to do it again…♥’

It was good when they had sex.

Even though she was the mother of two grown children, a great sense of immorality emerged every time she intertwined bodies with Doreonnim.

Therefore, upon hearing the news that his business trip was extended, she was disappointed.

While greatly disheartened, the idea of preparing something for Doreonnim, who was working hard out there where she didn’t know, came to mind.

However, no matter how many times she thought it over, the greatest gift she could give to Doreonnim, who already had abundant material wealth, was this.

‘Doreonnim… he was very interested in Sora, wasn’t he?’

The person she had considered for Doreonnim to meet countless times.

That was her daughter, Lee Sora.

He mentioned her every time they were intimate, so she had kept it in mind, but it was time for her to make a decision.

Whether to allow her daughter… to encounter Doreonnim.

*Squeeze!*

She knew it was a crazy thing to do.

It was an absurd act, an act of ignoring her daughter’s opinion, and she would have to be prepared for the public’s finger-pointing.

‘But… wouldn’t that also make Sora happy?’

However, no matter how many times she thought it over, her mind always came to this conclusion.

Considering the attitude Doreonnim had shown her so far, he would treat Sora well, leaving no room for disappointment.

The thought kept occurring to her that it would be better for Sora, who had just entered university, than for her to go astray like her son Taemin.

This was even more so because of the long period she had struggled alone after her husband’s death.

Although it seemed she was crossing the wrong line by intertwining bodies with her son’s friend and gradually becoming more ruined, she wanted to repay Doreonnim for the favors she had received.

Doreonnim would surely be happy with this gift, and she also wanted to be of help to Doreonnim.

‘I’m crazy… I must be completely crazy♥’

*Thump-thump-thump-thump♥*

A mother offering her daughter.

It truly felt like a trashy soap opera story, but,

*Squeeze, squeeze♥*

‘Doreonnim, I hope you’re pleased… with my gift♥’

In the house without Doreonnim, she stuck out her tongue onto the dining table and rubbed her [private part] there.

Comforting herself alone at the corner of the dining table, she finally hardened her resolve.

To the tired Doreonnim returning from his business trip, she would have to prepare a special tonic meal♥.